Dodgers at Mets, starting pitchers, game times & TV info

The Dodgers continue the eastern swing of their road trip Friday to start a three-game series with the Mets. Here is a look at the pitching matchups for the three games at Citi Field, as well as the television schedule.

Friday, 4:10 p.m. PT (SportsNet LA)

Yu Darvish makes his Dodgers and National League debut after being acquired on July 31 from the Texas Rangers. His last American League start was a forgettable outing where he allowed ten runs and did not get out of the fourth inning, but prior to that he had reeled off three consecutive quality starts and had also done so in five of his last six appearances.

Thanks to interleague play, Darvish has actually batted in the major leagues before today. He is a triple short of career cycle, collecting three hits in 14 plate appearances, with the home run hit in Cincinnati last season off of Tim Adleman. In Japan he came to the plate 38 times and had five hits. Darvish has had exactly one sacrifice bunt in his entire professional career.

Jacob deGrom is the only Mets pitcher other than the injured Noah Syndergaard who sports an ERA of 100 or better and has started a game for New York this year. Over his last nine starts, he and the Mets have won eight times and he has held opponents to a .185/.228/.311/.539 batting line.

Saturday, 1:05 p.m. (SportsNet LA, FS1)

Rich Hill on the season has struck out 10.4 batters per nine innings pitched. The left-hander has allowed more than two earned runs in a game in only three of his 15 starts in 2017, and in one of those three games he allowed exactly three runs in seven innings. However, he has averaged less than 5 ¹⁄₃ innings per start this season.

Seth Lugo has averaged just over six innings in his nine starts in 2017, but he has also allowed 63 hits over 54 ²⁄₃ innings in those starts. In his last appearance he allowed five runs in five innings in Seattle.

Sunday, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN)

Hyun-Jin Ryu tossed seven shutout innings in his last appearance while striking out seven batters and walking only one. He has allowed two or less runs in his last five starts.

After a good start to the season, Steven Matz has struggled in his late five starts, posting a 5.50 ERA (5.06 FIP) and allowing 11.4 hits per nine innings pitched overall. In those last five starts he has averaged about 3 ²⁄₃ innings, nearly 5 runs allowed and batters hit .44/.469/.744 against him, leading to an ERA of 11.78 over that stretch.

Sunday’s game is an ESPN exclusive telecast.